Universal Rebel will bring its reggae/rap fusion to Hoboken's Northern Soul on Saturday, February 8.

. Universal Rebel may be the unlikeliest band you'll find in an Irish pub this weekend - but also the most fun.

The reggae/hip collective from Morristown will be invading Hoboken's Northern Soul for two sets on Saturday, February 8, with what the band likes to call "Reggae Dub/Luv," party music infused with a progressive social conscience.

Northern Soul's tiny front stage should feel pretty crowded since Universal Rebel can muster as many as eight members at full strength, complete with horns, multiple keyboards, percussion, and even a violin. Charismatic, dreadlocked frontman Brandyn "Adeo" Heppard said the group is stoked to return to Hoboken after a successful first appearance performing for the Digable Arts Festival afterparty a few months ago.

"Maybe it was just that night, but at that show, there was a lot of artists and a lot of love and we just had a great time, so we wanted to come back," Adeo said. "People were really feeling it and the whole night just had a great vibe so we're really looking forward to playing Hoboken a lot more."

Universal Rebel formed about four years ago with Adeo on vocals, Rich "Chado" Collins on bass, and Comack on keyboards. "We've really grown now to where we have five core members, including Sherin (Henafly,) our female vocalist, our drummer Sean ("Marley" Patton,) and Derek ("Blind Man" Gazal,) who's also a songwriter like myself and also plays keyboards," said Adeo.. On occasion, the band will also be joined by Willy Carmona on trumpet ("he's a busy man, and a proud pappa," noted Adeo) and Karl Shlagel on violin.

"We play small venues and we can break it down to just a three or four piece band, or when we play a place like Northern Soul, we'll have the whole crew there," said Adeo. "It's a nice sized venue, even if it gets a little tight with all our guys fitting on that little stage."

A large part of Universal Rebel's appeal comes lyrics that stress social change and a positive outlook, something the group inherited from its love of Bob Marley. "It's seems kinda crazy and backwards that so many bands today make music that doesn't have any kind of message at all," Adeo said. "I think that's largely the music industry's influence. When you're making pop music, you're trying to sell something to the most people. You don't want to say anything that will alienate anybody. We try to show something to people. Reggae music was always very message oriented and we draw from that."

Adeo said that he recently saw a documentary about Bob Dylan that contained a quote he's kept with him. "Dylan said, back in the old days, when you wanted to know if a band was any good, you asked if they had anything to say," he said. "I thought that was really cool."

"Bob Marley is number one inspiration for all of us in the band," Adeo added. "That's where it all starts. As far as our musical influences, even if it's not reggae, all of our interests are off that family tree. Bob is the man."

But Adeo said that there's much more than just reggae to Universal Rebel's sound. "All of us are into so many different things, I couldn't even list them all," he said. "Hip hop, of course, but a lot of us are really into jazz, both the classic stuff and modern. And there's definitely a jam band influence to what we do as well, bands like Phish and Moe. But I think whatever we're playing, we try to bring it back to that reggae feel and fill it with love."

Universal Soul will be performing two sets at Northern Soul, so "while we really pride ourselves on being an original band, we'll be doing a few covers too," said Adeo. "We might do some things that you wouldn't expect us to play, like take a Rolling Stones or a Bob Dylan song but give it a hip hop beat or a reggae feel. Sometimes we'll just take a pop song you might hear on the radio and just make it sound like us."

Universal Rebel will performat Northern Soul (557 First St., Hoboken) on Saturday, February 8, from 8 to 11 p.m. Admission is free. Promoter Dave Entwistle has already invited Universal Rebel back on April 12, and Adeo said he hopes to play Hoboken often. In addition, the band will be releasing a live-concert DVD this Spring of a show opening for the Wailers. For more information, visit www.universalrebel.org.

Most Read

N.J. News In Your Inbox

From local news to politics to entertainment and sports, the twice daily Right Now eNewsletter has all of the New Jersey news you need!

Leave this field blank

optionalCheck here if you do not want to receive additional email offers and information.See our privacy policy

Thank you for your subscription!

To view and subscribe to any of our other newsletters, please click here.